Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has declared his intention to contest for the APC Nasarawa South senatorial seat come 2019.
The seat is currently occupied by Senator Solomon Adokwe of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who has held the office since 2007.
Al-Makura made the declaration Tuesday at the state APC secretariat while observing the swearing-in the newly elected state executive officials of the party.
According to Al-Makura: “I have been under pressure by my party men and people from my senatorial zone to represent them at the National Assembly.
“After thoughtful consideration, I, Umaru Tanko Al-makura, have accepted to contest for the seat of the southern senatorial zone come 2019.”
The Governor debunked insinuations that himself and Senator Abdullahi Adamu are at loggerhead, saying “there is no disagreement of any kind between me and the distinguished Senate Abdullahi Adamu.
“Those who are carrying rumour from me to Senator Abdullahi and taking from him to me should hear today that we operate with one vision and are focused,” he said.
Al-Makura insisted that he would not sponsor any candidate to succeed, stating that does not have any special candidate to replace him in the forth coming election.
He called on party members not to be bothered by insinuations that the APC will lose the 2019 elections.
“The PDP in comatose even though the heart is still beating, but before 2019 there will be no PDP in Nasarawa state,” he said.
“My plan initially was that we will convert the PDP state secretariat to APC state office because PDP is finished; but I thought otherwise that how can we occupy such a desecrated, polluted temple as an APC office,” the governor said.
On the APGA, Al-Makura said: “APGA is a one-man show without even a councillorship position; so how will anybody be afraid of them in 2019?”
In a swift reaction, the national secretary of APGA, Hon Labaran Maku, who spoke to our reporter in Lafia by telephone said: “where and what was CPC that Al-Makura won the governorship seat in 2011?”
”Let me remind him if he has forgotten about 2015 governorship election. His conscience bears him witness that I defeated him in that election even though INEC and the police colluded to manipulate the result, but even at that the APGA came second according to INEC’s final result,” he said
